Turn Out

Turn Out

So one thing you need to remember is that it's not going to happen straight away. It will take time and regular practice for your turn out to improve. If only we could wave a magic wand and have amazing hip rotation like Svetlana Zakharova. ➝

Here are a few exercises you can do at home to help improve your turnout.

Warm up:

Warming up your hip/bottom/thigh muscle first is a must! Gently swing your legs forwards, backwards and sideways to increase blood flood to these areas.
Hug your knee to your chest and hold for 8 counts, repeat opening up your turnout by pulling your knee towards your shoulder.

Butterfly Stretch: 
Sit with your legs bent and so the soles of your feet should be facing each other. Make sure you keep your back straight and your head up too. 

Prone Butterfly Stretch:
Lie flat on your tummy and draw your knee up, keeping your feet together and attempting to get your feet to touch the ground. The shape made should be similar to the exercise above.

Back Straddle Split:
Lay on your back with your legs up in the air at 90 degrees, feet turned out and toes pointed. With resistance, lower your legs out to the side,  into a straddle split and then draw your legs back up into a closed position 90 degree position. Repeat.

Cool down:
Stretching out those hip muscles is again very important. You've just worked and stretched them and they need to recover. Repeat the 'Warm Up' exercises.

How to relax over Christmas

Relaxing over Christmas, without losing form.

Keeping up with your fitness over summer is very important but so is RELAXING! You've worked hard all year, busting your gut over eisteddfods and exams and concerts; you deserve a little break!
It can be very hard changing your mindset as we come into Christmas where chocolate, cake and biscuits seems to be the only food in the house. All year you've maintained a healthy balanced diet and now it

seems to be going to shreds, BUT this is okay. Christmas happens once a year, take the opportunity to reward yourself for all your hard work and know that one (or two) days of eating like Queens and Kings will NOT have any long term repercussions. Remember that Christmas cake is essentially dried fruit with a tiny bit of egg and flour to stick it together. A roast dinner is a good source of protein with a lot of vegetables available.

The flip side is exercise. Flexibility and strength work are important to keep up with over summer, but there is no need to be excessive. Do exercise to your hearts content, Do what makes you happy but Don't let it become the focus.
Pick up a summer hobby that is fitness but a lot of fun, maybe something you wouldn't normally have time to do in the rest of year due to dancing. Take some skating lessons, or ice skating lessons if your area offers it. On the Sunshine Coast, we have a trampoline facility (a very large room with floors and walls entirely covered with trampolines. Or maybe pick up a fun dance class over summer - if you've never done Hip hop, consider that class, etc. or even a gymnastics class, a silks acro class or a Pilates class. Keeping up your fitness is important, but not at the expense of enjoying your summer. Another idea is to do this fun exercise with friends/family who aren't from dancing, for a change.

It all comes down to your attitude, are you avoiding Christmas cookies because you genuinely don't like them? Are you hammering yourself everyday because the energy makes you feel alive? Or are you looking over the next few weeks with dread?

Simple and Chic

Simple and Chic

Going out for dinner, a date or seeing the ballet? 

This look is a perfect for any occasion. 

The Winged Eyeliner 

Using a black liquid liner, gently draw a line across your lash line starting from the top inner corner of your eye toward the outer corner of your eye, then continue to extend the line out to where you want the wing to finish.

Make sure you follow the natural shape of your eye as close to the root of your eye lashes as possible. The firmer you press the brush, the thicker the line will be.

After you have applied the eyeliner to both eyes, compare the liner on each eye making sure they are even. It may take a little practice to get them both even. So if they aren't even, simply take a cotton tip and lightly drag along the line to make it symmetrical to the other eye.

Don’t forget to add a little mascara!!

Lining your Lips

The key to achieving any bold lip is to hydrate your lips. Cracked and peeling lips will make your lipstick blotchy, which we don’t want!

Outlining your lips will keep the colour from running, make it last longer and also make your lips look fuller. 

Your lip liner should be the same or similar colour to your lipstick. Apply it to the edges of your lips following your natural lip line, then continue to fill in the rest of the lip. If you want your lips to appear a little bigger simply extend the line just slightly outside of your natural lip line.

The Lippy

To get perfect lips use a lip brush, you will have much more control over where the lipstick goes. (especially cause red is a tricky colour)

Start in the middle of your lip and move out to the corners. Then, take a tissue and dab it between your lips. When the excess has been removed, reapply for maximum colour. (this will help it last longer as well) 

Colour those cheeks

Add a little bit of blush onto your cheek bones preferably a natural looking colour.

You can dress this look up or down. For a cute, casual look wear a simple summer dress and your favorite flats. Or if you’re going to a really fancy restaurant or to see the ballet, wear a elegant gown and matching heels of course!

Have fun and good luck ! xx

Holidays are coming...

It's ok, holidays are coming...

Ok so term 2 is nearly over and I bet all you dancers are getting pretty sore, tired and ready for a break. Your bodies might be under a bit of pressure from intensive dancing in preparation for upcoming exams and eisteddfods, so you need to make sure you looking after body in every possible way.

As your feet are doing a lot of work, when you come home from dancing of a night massage your feet and give them a good rest. Here is a link for tips and trick about foot care. http://showtimedancewear.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/dancers-feet.html

Now all those back bend and walk over can make your back cramp a little, So to release some tension in your back do a few of these stretches found in the following link. http://showtimedancewear.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/sore-back-after-class-you-need-to-make.html

Fueling your body is very important so in this link you will find how to make a Super Smoothie, which is great for a ‘pick me up’ when you’re on the go. http://showtimedancewear.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/super-smoothies.html

Last of all make sure you are getting a good night sleep! Studies show that a good night's sleep improves learning, helps you pay attention, make decisions, be creative and that when your body does most of its recovery and repair. 

Super Smoothies

photo sourced: <http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4710&catId=2> 

Super Smoothies!

Dancer's have high energy needs! Many of you guys have just finished the Sunshine Coast Eisteddfods and might be feeling a little tired and worn out from all the practice that went into those amazing dances! Smoothies are so yummy and are a great and super easy way to eat (drink?) your food on the go. Smoothies are also so refreshing, especially in the summer time!

The basis of most smoothies is milk and yogurt and you can change these to to suit dietary requirements (lactose, almond, goat varieties). My personal favourite is a Mango and Banana smoothie with milk, yogurt,  mango flesh (frozen or thawed) and banana. I also love either fruits on their own. Other combinations include a concoction of berries, honey, lemongrass, oatmeal (for carbohydrates), ginger, orange, green tea, cherries, pineapple, and kiwi fruit. These are just a few of the many options and any combinations are possible. 

Making a Super Smoothie

Chose your fruit. Such as, berries, banana, kiwi fruit, mango, paw paw, passion fruit, figs or even lychees.

Add you liquid. As everyone has different dietary requirements there are different liquids to suite. There is almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, goats milk, dairy milk, coconut milk, coconut water and all types of juices.

The power food. for extra nutrience and all that good stuff add in some of these, Spirulina, chia seeds, flax seeds, oats, LSA mix (blended sunflower seeds, amond meal and linseed.) or quinoa 

Make it thicker. By adding natural yogurt, sorbet, ice cream, ice or frozen fruits can help to make you smoothie thicker.

Extra Flavour. Still a little bland.. try adding in some honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, peanut butter or ginger 

Just blend it all together and ta da! a Super Smoothie!

Let us know what flavours you have created!

Dancer's Tips and Tricks: The Perfect Bun

The Perfect  Bun

The Bun Enhancer is a great tool to use to quickly and easily throw your hair up into a bun. It only takes 6 steps and is very similar to the Bun Doughnut. Instead of wasting time fiddling with pins and bun covers, the Bun Enhancer does the job and is extremely versatile (Look for the steps down below!) Want a clean smooth bun for your ballet classes, simply twist the Enhancer tighter. Need a loose stylish bun for that Jazz routine or night out with the girl? Leave the twisting looser.

Step 1: Pull your hair back securely into a pony tail, at the height you want your bun to sit

Step 2: Open the gap in the Bun Enhancer and pull your hair through and close the gap tightly.

Step 3: Lift both ends of the enhancer and slide it through your hair until it reaches the end (but don’t pull to far or you’ll pull it off!)

Step 4: When it’s at the end of your hair, hold both ends, and twist it downwards until you reach your scalp

Step 5: Twist the ends of the Bun Enhancer into a round shape, adjusting as you need.

Step 6: Even the distribution of your hair around the Enhancer until you can’t see the Enhancer and you are happy with how it looks. Bobby pin if there are loose strands.

You now have a fabulous bun that can be modified for all different occasions! Try braiding part of your hair and pulling it into a side bun for a shabby chic look or pull up high on the head for a more sleek appearance. Most importantly, chuck it in your dance bag for those days when there doesn’t seem to be enough time to do your hair before class!

(The Bun Enhancers are available from Showtime in Blonde and Brown)

Here an awesome video to help if you’re having any troubles!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-1H6vYzgqs

Stretch! (Tips for parents)

Stretching for improvement!

Practicing and stretching at home is so important for a budding young dancer! Once a week in class does the basics; your child learns the basics and correct techniques, but to maintain and gain these abilities they must practice at home. Since the classes for a lot of young dancers only happen once or twice a week, it’s a good idea to encourage your child to go through the steps for memory’s sake as well as stretching to help keep their flexibility from week to week as this builds muscle memory. Take it from someone who has been able to achieve the splits one week, only to be disappointed the next week when I’ve not been able to do it again. Consistent and continual striving for flexibility will gain the best results. Dance is a sport, and just like any other, they get to be the best by training constantly.  There are many ways to help your child, firstly by just reminding your child to practice. At this stage, even just going over the exercises without music will help their mind and muscle memory. Secondly, YouTube! YouTube tutorials are a great way to find new stretches and exercises. The third tip is to physically help you child stretch. Maybe you could even stretch WITH your child to help encourage them; get them to teach you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5Ic4dOwrWA is a great starting point!

Dancers Feet.

Sore Feet??...

Soak your feet in Epsom salt for 10-15 minutes when you come home from dancing, the sooner after dancing, the better. Don't put them in hot water that will increase the risk of swelling, instead use room temperature water or ice cold water. After soaking your feet, get mum or dad to give for feet a little massage to help relax your muscles. Then get a good night sleep!!!